In a recent Metal Hammer interview with Slayer’s Kerry King, the guitarist reflected on life following the end of the band after almost a four-decade long tenure as one of thrash’s premier acts.
“Every one of those shows was a bummer!” said King of their final tour. “We were going to all these places and all these cities where we have all this history. It’s a bummer to think, ‘I’m not gonna see my friends there again.’ You’d get to that country and know you were going to see these people, and you’d see them yearly. I haven’t seen them now in three years! That sucks! And the fans, too. Slayer means a lot to our fans, and they mean a lot to us.
“I know I will see these people again, but no Slayer leaves a big hole for a lot of people.”
Well, here’s something to temporarily plug that Slayer-shaped gap in everyone’s life.
Michael Jackon’s Beat It, whose original recording features Toto’s Steve Lukather and a scorching solo by the late Eddie Van Halen, has been given the thrash treatment by Finnish YouTuber and multi-instrumentalist Otu Suurmunne.
No stranger to these digital pages, Otu has gifted the rock world with outstandingly accurate takes on bands like Alice in Chains performing Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up and System Of A Down reconstructing Aqua’s Barbie Girl.
This furious version of the King of Pop’s 1983 single does not disappoint.
Like an aural alchemist, his guitar tone, production and delivery eerily echoes the fury of Slayer’s 1986 masterpiece Reign In Blood and cheekily reappropriates the ominous riff of the title track from their 1988 follow-up South of Heaven.
Check it out in the video below.
